Publisher’s Ink: Bracing for a new war — on real working women

Richard Esposito

Another new war has been declared. Republicans, according to Democrats, are now waging a war on women.

This battle started when Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal revealed cuts for Planned Parenthood primarily those targeted at providing free contraceptives to women. President Obama’s forces were already retreating from a skirmish involving his healthcare initiative mandating religious organizations provide free contraceptives to their employees. A new diversionary tactic was necessary to soften the affront to constitutionally protected freedom of religion: Move the fight away from churches and make this an anti-woman issue.

Let’s face it, proposing any budget cut today is met with heavy resistance by those at the receiving end of the money.

Propose closing a military base and there’s an outcry from Republicans. Propose cutting Medicare benefits and all hell breaks out. Propose reducing the government workforce and public employees begin sharpening their spears. Propose cutting Planned Parenthood’s funding for contraceptives and abortions and … you invoke a war.

With the president’s proposed budget getting zilch support from all members of Congress (including his own party) and the Senate refusing to offer a budget up in three years, just when will our $15 trillion national debt be addressed?

The short answer is — never.

Fomenting class warfare is something this administration and our community-organizing president are very knowledgeable of. They understand all too well how to leverage skirmishes to their advantage. Take the infamous “Beer Summit.” Rile up hatred between law enforcement and a black college educator and then inject yourself as the great racial mediator for a truly “teachable” moment.

So, now with women making up a majority of the electorate this president needs a new tactic to attract them to his camp.

There’s nothing better than stirring up a fabricated Republican war against women based on the premise of cutting funding for contraceptives. Never mind this argument was squashed once the public realized how inexpensive contraceptives could be purchased at Wal-Mart.

So the push was on to characterize the Ryan budget as harmful to women. Stir up that class warfare, foment anger. Take pot shots at anyone proposing cuts to programs assisting women. And in the process depict presidential candidate Mitt Romney as out of touch with women and their needs.

Unfortunately for Team Obama, one of their comrade-in-arms made a tactical error in the field. By declaring Ann Romney, the wife of the Republican presidential nominee “never worked a day in her life,” Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comments lit the fuse on a keg of dynamite located under their own camp while raising the ire of stay-at-home mothers everywhere. Of course no one in the administration recalls any of her 35 visits to the White House and she was quickly dismissed out of hand by the president’s spokesman. “Which Hilary are you referring to?” presidential spokesman Jay Carney asked when reporters tied Rosen to the frequent visits to the White House.

For all the talk about a woman’s right to choose, in this case Ann Romney’s life profession, suddenly stay-at-home moms have become irrelevant, lazy, non-productive citizens of the state?

So where does a woman suffering Multiple Sclerosis while raising five children fall in the category of working women?

Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was raked over the coals by the national media and Democrats for working outside the home with a Down syndrome child at home. How dare she even consider pursuing a political career under those circumstances! Now the wife of a presidential candidate is maligned for not working outside the home?

How far will this class and gender warfare go? For a president vowing to bring the country together, under the guise of change, it sure looks more like he’s tearing it apart.

I suppose that’s part of the strategic warfare plans of a community organizer. Create an environment of hate and pit one class of citizens against another to diffuse your political opponents, thus opening the battle lines to victory.

Who would have believed it was possible to pit stay-at-home moms against “real” working women? This is some community organizer.

Posted by Richard Esposito
on May 4 2012.
Last Login: Fri Aug 29 12:05:49 2014
Filed under Commentary.
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